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Android News, Reviews and How Tos
Tue, 22 Oct 2013 15:53:38 +0000 en-US
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1 HTC One Max Launchedhttp://knowmydroid.com/htc-one-max-launched/
http://knowmydroid.com/htc-one-max-launched/#respondMon, 14 Oct 2013 14:57:38 +0000http://knowmydroid.com/?p=61HTC have unveiled their latest phone, the phablet sized HTC One Max. The phone is essentially an oversized version of the HTC One with a 5.9 inch screen with a Full HD 1080p resolution. HTC haven’t really made a phablet before, but they seem to have done a great job putting this one together.

HTC have been suffering this year as Samsung increases its lead over other Android manufacturers. While we, like many other blogs, loved the HTC One and thought it was as good as the Samsung Galaxy S4, ordinary customers were largely won over by Samsung’s marketing efforts and chose the S4 as their handset. This has recently led HTC to post their first loss ever. HTC hopes it’s new phablet will go some way to putting it back in the black.

The HTC One Max looks to be an amazing device and will offer strong competition to the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 which was recently announced. Here at KnowMyDroid we’ll be purchasing one to give you an in depth review as soon as these ship – they are due to arrive later this month.

The standout feature of the phone, other than the large screen, is a fingerprint scanner located just below the camera on the back panel of the phone. This works somewhat like the fingerprint scanner that Apple introduced in the iPhone 5s in September, but unlike the iPhone isn’t in the home button. An Android based phone actually beat Apple to introduce a fingerprint scanner – the Motorola Atrix – but that 2011 phone had many technical problems.

As well as boasting a large screen and a fingerprint scanner, the HTC One Max has some decent specs. There’s 2GB of RAM, which is as high as any non-Samsung phone offers (Samsung have 3GB in the Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Round). Plus there’s a choice of either 16GB or 32GB of storage. Either option also comes with a MicroSD card slot, enabling you to expand the storage by an extra 64GB by purchasing a cheap MicroSD card.

The processor sadly isn’t quite as good as we’ve been seeing in new devices from, for instance, LG and Samsung. HTC are using the previous generation processors from Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 600 range. The processor here is a quad-core 1.7GHz chip, which is somewhat lower than some other phones which include quad-core 2.3GHz chips. In normal usage you won’t be able to tell the difference though, and only 3D gamers, video editors and photo editors might notice a tiny speed difference.

The main camera on the phone is great and continues HTC’s reputation for making great all round cameras rather than focusing on megapixels. It can take Full HD 1080p video in HDR, has five levels of automatically adjusting flash and a f/2.0 aperture. The front facing camera for video chatting and selfies also can take Full HD video.

Overall this is going to be a great phone from HTC, but it’s unlikely to gain anything like the sales that the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 does – in part because phablet lovers are used to Samsung phones and have loyalty to them, and in part because the processor will put some off.

]]>http://knowmydroid.com/htc-one-max-launched/feed/0Best Laptop: Apple MacBook Pro, Popular Science Top 100 Innovations of 2009http://knowmydroid.com/best-laptop-apple-macbook-pro-popular-science-top-100-innovations-of-2009/
http://knowmydroid.com/best-laptop-apple-macbook-pro-popular-science-top-100-innovations-of-2009/#commentsSun, 29 Sep 2013 17:29:12 +0000http://knowmydroid.com/best-laptop-apple-macbook-pro-popular-science-top-100-innovations-of-2009/Popular Science recently named an Apple computer as the best laptop of 2009 in the Best of What s New 2009: The Year s 100 Greatest Innovations article. What makes Apple laptop the best in the field Apple s unique, patented technology on battery life, included with every MacBook Pro.Due to Apple s design and technology flat lithium-polymer batteries MacBook Pros carry more power than similarly sized Windows PC machines with the same processor.

The uniquely efficient FLAT lithium-polymer batteries allows much longer run times without increasing the size or weight of Apple s laptop.

Advanced chemistry and Adaptive Charging in Apple s MacBook Pro notebooks is said to allows the battery to maintain charging capabilities longer. The battery in the MacBook Pro is designed and built with additional Apple technology to last five years or 1000 recharges, multiple times typical PC battery life span

]]>http://knowmydroid.com/best-laptop-apple-macbook-pro-popular-science-top-100-innovations-of-2009/feed/1Google Trends Plus SEO Drive Traffic to Your Bloghttp://knowmydroid.com/google-trends-plus-seo-drive-traffic-to-your-blog/
http://knowmydroid.com/google-trends-plus-seo-drive-traffic-to-your-blog/#commentsSun, 29 Sep 2013 17:29:12 +0000http://knowmydroid.com/google-trends-plus-seo-drive-traffic-to-your-blog/An organization has its own shuttle bus and provide free transportation for their employees is a very common service in China. Workers in schools, government agencies or private businesses all enjoy some sort of transportation tip free bus, taxi re reimbursement etc. on a monthly basis. However, it is quite rare here in North America. A recent article in New York Times exposed that Google is providing this service to the employees in the San Francisco region. I suppose it may be not as needed as in China since most people work in Google can afford cars but it is still a very thoughtful service due to high traffic in the cities. If you can hop onto a free ride and relax, surf on the Internet and get off right in front of your office, it s kinda nice isn t it Anyway, the article says, Google owns 32 buses, their routes cover over 10 cities and 6 counties around SF area. The buses provide free transportation to over 25% of the employees around 1200 people. They even have their own department of transportation I googled Google Bus, but only could find the Korean version of Google Bus, but I have to say this is a great idea to keep their employees and great advertisement

]]>http://knowmydroid.com/google-trends-plus-seo-drive-traffic-to-your-blog/feed/1Go Mobile with Master Accuracyhttp://knowmydroid.com/go-mobile-with-master-accuracy/
http://knowmydroid.com/go-mobile-with-master-accuracy/#commentsSun, 29 Sep 2013 17:29:12 +0000http://knowmydroid.com/go-mobile-with-master-accuracy/Given the rise of Mobile Internet users in past few years it has become quite important to have mobile or lite version of your blog. Mobile users generally do not like to download relatively heavy blog that are made for normal internet connections and web browsers.

There are number of solutions for bloggers for both WordPress & Blogger platforms and I have personally tried a few of them, but I have not been too satisfied Either they are too complex to setup or they are not exactly mobile-friendly.Here at trak.in, we had been using custom mobile blogger solution for past couple of months from Mobstac and were quite satisfied with what they had to offer. However, now Mobstac has gone ahead and launched a platform which allows bloggers to create mobile version of their blog. I got trak.in s mobile version up and running on the new platform in under 5 minutes.

]]>http://knowmydroid.com/go-mobile-with-master-accuracy/feed/1Transforming Paper and Plastic into a 3D Interactive Experiencehttp://knowmydroid.com/transforming-paper-and-plastic-into-a-3d-interactive-experience/
http://knowmydroid.com/transforming-paper-and-plastic-into-a-3d-interactive-experience/#commentsSun, 29 Sep 2013 17:29:12 +0000http://knowmydroid.com/transforming-paper-and-plastic-into-a-3d-interactive-experience/The Google Earth API was used as a foundation for StrataLogica to make use of its sophisticated image rendering logic, satellite imagery and access to built-in tools and navigation controls. As an enterprise scale application, we faced some interesting challenges and gained many insights along the way that we d like to share.

Our first task was to prove we could wrap Nystrom s existing educationally focused maps and globes onto Google Earth while retaining the same high quality resolution delivered in their print products.

Achieving acceptable image resolution resulted in file sizes which were much too large. In addition, we needed to deliver an increased level of map content and granularity of images as the user zoomed into the earth. To address these two issues, we created a custom process that takes an Adobe Illustrator file and outputs Superoverlays in accordance with KML 2.1 standards. Using open source Python frameworks, we created a customized solution that outputs Superoverlays with various levels of content.

Our next challenge was to provide support for authoring and maintaining content, in the browser using the Google Earth plugin. All content is authored and maintained in a content management system CMS in much the same way as any dynamic website. One unique difference is that some of the content elements are geo-referenced coordinates that specify the location of content on earth. In the case of placemark balloons, the geo-referenced coordinates identify hotspots on the Nystrom maps which become clickable when the user turns on a setting. The placemark balloons provide supplementary audio, image, video and descriptive content such as the example shown above for the Appalachian Mountains.

]]>http://knowmydroid.com/transforming-paper-and-plastic-into-a-3d-interactive-experience/feed/1Google Gears: Upgrading from a 1950 s Chevy in Cubahttp://knowmydroid.com/google-gears-upgrading-from-a-1950-s-chevy-in-cuba/
http://knowmydroid.com/google-gears-upgrading-from-a-1950-s-chevy-in-cuba/#commentsSun, 29 Sep 2013 17:29:12 +0000http://knowmydroid.com/google-gears-upgrading-from-a-1950-s-chevy-in-cuba/For obvious reasons, people are often assuming that Google Gears Offline. To me this isn t the case. Gears happens to have three initial APIs LocalServer, Database, WorkerPool that can lend themselves to offline work. However, some people are grokking that WorkerPool and even Database are very useful even if your application never goes offline.

Segue: I am really excited to have Brad Neuberg of Dojo, Rojo, and other non-ojo projects fame, working with me at Google. It is a real pleasure to see the group growing, with great new hires such as Joe Gregorio, and others that haven t made it official yet

I was having a chat about Gears with Brad, and he was talking about how he saw it as a way to update the Web in place. He got it.

Let

]]>http://knowmydroid.com/google-gears-upgrading-from-a-1950-s-chevy-in-cuba/feed/1New iphone & ipad Database Resources..on Facebookhttp://knowmydroid.com/new-iphone-ipad-database-resources-on-facebook/
http://knowmydroid.com/new-iphone-ipad-database-resources-on-facebook/#commentsSun, 29 Sep 2013 17:29:12 +0000http://knowmydroid.com/new-iphone-ipad-database-resources-on-facebook/Filemaker set up a handy new online resource for all of its iPad and iPhone database developers pro and amateur alike. Instead of putting it on their own site though, they started up a Facebook page instead. Odd, but perhaps just a sign of the times. Handy probably come to think of it, since most people are checking their FB feeds more than anything else.

Anyhoo, it looks pretty useful. Packed with demos of how developers are creating Filemaker solutions for the iPhone/iPad combo, tips, videos, links, and of course, updates.

]]>http://knowmydroid.com/new-iphone-ipad-database-resources-on-facebook/feed/1The Facebook :Timeline Now Available Worldwidehttp://knowmydroid.com/the-facebook-timeline-now-available-worldwide/
http://knowmydroid.com/the-facebook-timeline-now-available-worldwide/#commentsSun, 29 Sep 2013 17:29:12 +0000http://knowmydroid.com/the-facebook-timeline-now-available-worldwide/ Last year we introduced timeline a new kind of profile that lets you highlight the photos posts and life events that help you tell your story. Over the next few weeks, everyone will get timeline. When you get timeline, you ll have 7 days to preview what s there now. This gives you a chance to add or hide whatever you want before anyone else sees it.
You can learn more about these new features by taking the quick tour available at the top of your timeline. If you want to get timeline now, go to the Introducing Timeline page and click “Get Timeline.” Or you can wait until you see an announcement at the top of your home page When you upgrade to timeline, you ll have seven days to review everything that appears on your timeline before anyone else can see it. You can also choose to publish your timeline at any time during the review period. If you decide to wait, your timeline will go live automatically after seven days. Your new timeline will replace your profile, but all your stories and photos will still be there.
If you want to see how your timeline appears to other people, click the gear menu at the top of your timeline and select View As.You can choose to see how your timeline appears to a specific friend or the public.
]]>http://knowmydroid.com/the-facebook-timeline-now-available-worldwide/feed/1Social Networking Safety Tipshttp://knowmydroid.com/social-networking-safety-tips/
http://knowmydroid.com/social-networking-safety-tips/#commentsSun, 29 Sep 2013 17:29:12 +0000http://knowmydroid.com/social-networking-safety-tips/Using social networks only to send bulletins and promote your business is bad form. The first thing you want to do is create an engaging profile. It s often the first thing people notice. Taking the time set up a simple bio page is well worth the effort. If you re over thirty it may be difficult to grasp the personal nature of online networks.

When I went through on-campus recruiting for accounting firms in 1997 it was all about the navy suit and the ability to make vanilla small talk. We were taught to blend. Not anymore. Today

]]>http://knowmydroid.com/social-networking-safety-tips/feed/1The Irynsoft Tablet Code-Named VIRTUOSOhttp://knowmydroid.com/the-irynsoft-tablet-code-named-virtuoso/
http://knowmydroid.com/the-irynsoft-tablet-code-named-virtuoso/#commentsSun, 29 Sep 2013 17:29:11 +0000http://knowmydroid.com/the-irynsoft-tablet-code-named-virtuoso/While we have made our reputation as being the mobile educational platform for the iPhone and Android phone, we ve always looked to push the bar in new ways. Heavily influenced by our participation in the Kauffman Foundation s Education Ventures Program, we ve taken a dramatic step in the evolution of the company to not only extend our offering to higher fidelity devices, but actually offer these devices directly to our customers. Irynsoft-branded and co-branded tablets will be offered this fall direct to consumers. We see the tablet form factor as one of the most significant innovations in education technology and by partnering with tablet manufacturers to create dedicated devices, we are able to create an affordable alternative for learners to gain access to the wealth of education resources available on the web. In the meantime, as you know, we ve been working on our low-cost educational tablet. Well, I m pleased to say we went code complete at the end of October and are just doing some final testing. We ve already shipped some beta units in September, but we ve improved based on feedback and are really excited with how it looks. We re creating a software-only BYOD Bring Your Own Device version that anyone with an Android Gingerbread device and sufficient screen resolution–we require 800×480 or above) can install on their own. That will be available on the Android Market and Amazon App Store. In addition, we intent to be fully compatible with Kindle Fire, though that device will lack some of the hardware features required to use all of the software. We plan to offer a free version and an extended version for the additional features. Here is a 3+ minute demo of our tablet.
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